Lucky Penny (ReWrite)
by Akuma-Chibi
Summary: Playing a game of poker with Fate and Destiny can be a dangerous task, especially when they control the hands. Two souls, thrown into a world of twists and turns, take their chance in this game against the gods. With so many out to kill the young and talented duo, childhood friends Kagome and Kurama must fight their way through the trials in hopes of making it out alive.
1. Chapter 1

**Lucky Penny (Revised)**

**Summary: Playing a game of poker with Fate and Destiny can be a dangerous task, especially when they control the hands. Two souls, thrown into a world of twists and turns, take their chance in this game against the gods. With so many out to kill the young and talented duo, childhood friends Kagome and Kurama must fight their way through the trials in hopes of making it out alive.**

**Anime/Manga: InuYasha/Yu Yu Hakusho**

**Rated: M for Mature Content**

**Pairing: Kagome/Kurama**

**Disclaimer: Do you really have to ask? No, I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or InuYasha.**

**A/N: This is one of the few stories that I have that are finished, so I decided to revise and edit it. Then, only when I finished revising and editing, posting. So, if you are reading this...it's done. You will not be waiting long for updates. I will update every other day. There were many things in this story that needed to be fixed, the intelligence level of a five-year-old Kagome is only one among **_**many**_** on the list of corrections needed to be made. I hope this version is better and easier to read.**

**-x-x-x-**

**Chapter One**

**-x-x-x-**

_**Eons ago, a prophecy was made that foretold the future of a single soul.**_

_**A female immortal would be placed among the human world, memories erased, and body remade until the time of her rebirth.**_

_**And so, the prophecy goes,**_

_**Into the grotto of the**_

_**Spring of the peach blossom**_

_**Invite the Immortal one.**_

_**She who is born on the night of the Beast**_

_**Will be tested for the right of her Immortal name,**_

_**Redemption**_

_**6.6.6**_

**-x-x-x-**

"_Oh!" _a pained gasp followed the sudden outcry, "Dad~!" Shoulder length black hair and doe brown eyes turned to the stairs. "Dad!" She called again.

A little girl of five sat on the floor with toys scattered carelessly around her. Her eyes were a deep blue turning to the panting woman who was leaning against the wall. "Mama?"

"It's okay, Kagome. Your brother is just letting mama know that he's ready to come out," she smiled through her contractions. Waddling to the stairs, she yelled louder, "DAD!"

"_Rai?"_ A voice from the furthest room upstairs came floating down in a croaky old voice. Footsteps sounded from above before an old man appeared at the top of the staircase. "Rai, what's all the yelling for?"

"Dad, the baby is coming," she said, taking a deep and calming breath as she looked at her father. When he didn't make any move that he'd heard her, she rolled her eyes and yelled, "he's coming _now_!"

"Right! I'll grab your bag!"

"Kagome, go get your shoes and jacket on."

Kagome looked at her pajamas with a frown. She never left the house in her sleep clothes. "My bed clothes," she pulled at her sleeve and her mother shook her head and sat down on the nearest seat to her.

"It's okay, sweetie. You just need your shoes and jacket."

Not arguing any further, Kagome stood up and stepped over her toys before running upstairs and into her room. She pushed her step stool closer to her closet and climbed up so that she could reach her jacket. Tugging at it, she scrunched her face up when it didn't release the hanger that it was holding tight to. "Let go!" she said, pulling it harder, shaking it, and finally twisting it about. The hanger gave, twisting up and falling from the bar it had once been hooked over. Barreling back down the steps of the stairs, she raised the jacket up to her mother who gave in to a pained laugh as she took the hanger and pulled it from the jacket for her daughter. Kagome let her mother put the jacket on her before she moved to the front door and grabbed her Velcro shoes and socks. "Mama, these are good?" She asked from around the corner.

Rai sighed, she couldn't see her daughter or the shoes that she was putting on, "yes, those are good." If she had shoes on, she didn't really care which ones she wore. Taking her cellphone from the counter beside her, she dialed a familiar number and listened while taking deep breaths. The ringing sounded a few times before a click and voice followed.

"_Shiori speaking,"_

"Shiori, it's Rai. The baby is coming!" She said in a bout of pain as she felt her knees buckle a bit, thankful that she was sitting down. "We are about to leave now,"

"_Have you called an ambulance to come get you yet? Would you like me to pick you up? I'm not too far, I can be there by the time you make it down the steps."_

"I-ah! No, I'll call the ambulance."

"_I'll call the ambulance, you just focus on breathing, Rai. I'll meet you at the Hospital."_

Rai nodded her head, then shook it when she realized her friend couldn't see the motion, "alright, I'll see y-you then." She strained a bit before hanging up. Her dad came down dressed and with her baby bag. Kagome was waiting by the front door, bouncing on her light up shoes while waiting for her mom and grandfather. "Kagome, come here." She held her hand out for her daughter and gripped the girls' hand before letting her father help her out of the house. The old man guided her carefully own the tower of steps. From halfway down, they could see the ambulance arriving, a few men climbed out and made their way to meet Rai. They took over helping her down the steps to the vehicle.

"Come on Kagome, we're going to follow Mama in a taxi,"

Kagome looked towards the brightly lit up ambulance and then back to her grandfather. She wanted to go with her mom. When her grandfather called for her again, she ran up to him and took his hand as he hailed a taxi. Looking at her shoes, she stomped her foot and watched the pink and blue lights sparkle against the pavement. She felt a tug and followed her grandfather into the taxi. He buckled her, she tried to make herself taller as she peered out the window at the passing scenery and the moving vehicles around them. Looking around the seat in front of her, she could see the ambulance further ahead of them. She pointed, "that's mama!" Her voice called as she watched the lights glitter in the darkness of the night.

"That's right, mama is going to give birth to Kagome's baby brother,"

She smiled and watched the vehicle with astute eyes. She didn't dare look away. She didn't want to lose her mom for even a moment.

**-x-x-x-**

"Shiori!"

Kagome looked up at her grandfather.

"Oh! They just took Rai into the Delivery Ward."

A woman said, her long black hair and friendly brown eyes had Kagome bringing a hand up to her skirt. The woman crouched down and smiled as she took Kagome into her arms and lifted her. "Hello Kagome, do you recognize me?"

She shook her head, "no."

"I'm your mommy's best friend. We went to school together, played together...we even had kids around the same time. Oh, but this is probably the first time you've met my son. He met you when you were just a baby though."

"Who?" She asked, tilting her head curiously at the woman. Her grandfather had left to talk to the nurse and was no longer in her line of sight.

Shiori smiled, walking towards another room, she opened the door where a boy with vibrant red hair and green eyes sat flipping through a magazine of geographical content. "Shuichi," she called, the boy glanced up and she smiled when he placed the magazine down and walked up to her. "Shuichi, this is Kagome. You probably don't remember, but you were there when she was born, and then again when we went to visit Rai a few years back."

Kagome laid her head on Shiori's shoulder, her eyes leveling the boy on the ground curiously before she pulled back and wiggled to get down. Shiori placed the girl down and smiled when she walked past the boy and moved towards the blocks on a table nearby.

"Shuichi, could you play with Kagome while we wait for her mom?"

He gave a silent nod, the look in his eyes one of disinterest, but her nodded all the same.

Shiori sighed, feeling a bit disheartened by her son's emotional detachment. She shook her head and left the playroom to see to her friends' father and wait for the delivery of her nephew.

**-x-x-x-**

Kagome glanced up from her blocks, the boy was sitting down again and looking at the book in his lap. It had pictures in it. She wanted to see them too. She looked down at her blocks and continued stacking them sloppily before she stood up and walked to the chair beside his. Her feet kicking back and forth as she looked at her shoes before her eyes traveled to the book. She couldn't see all that well from where she was. She leaned forward so that her head rested on the arm of the chair. Her eyes took in the picture of the mountains and the water around it. She looked at the clouds in the picture and in the corner of the page was a yellow and orange ball. "That's the sun," she pointed at the picture.

"It is," he said softly, his eyes reading the passage on the other page.

"Where is that," she asked, pointing at the mountains.

He followed her finger and noted the location in the title below the photo. "It's Lake Eibsee in Bevaria, Germany. Those are the Alps in the background."

"..."

"It's in Europe."

She frowned, "are there pictures from here?"

He turned back a few pages, "this is Mount Hiei, it's to the northeast of Kyoto, located in the Honshu, Shiga Prefecture."

"That's here?" She lived in Kyoto but didn't recall seeing any mountains around her home.

"Kyoto is really big, so it's no surprise that you've never seen the mountain. You live on a Shrine though, so even you should be able to see it from your home."

He continued to show her pictures and the two talked. Kagome would point occasionally at another picture and Shuichi would talk about it with her. She smiled, laughed, and somehow, she ended up in the same seat that he was in. He had to move over to give her room as he placed the magazine between them and continued to point at the pictures and read about the different places to her.

As hours passed, Kagome became sleepy and found herself leaning against the boy beside her. Her eyes heavy with the late hours shadowing her. She shook her head and peeled herself off the boy as she turned the page again, "how old is Shui-chan?"

"...I'm six, and you are five?"

"Mm, yeah."

Shuichi watched as Kagome's eyelids drooped again before turning his eyes back to the magazine, "Kagome, if you're tired, then you should sleep."

"…"

He glanced back at her, his eyes taking in the sleeping girl beside him. He looked back at the magazine before lifting a hand and giving her sleeve a slight tug and letting her fall into his shoulder where she lay sleeping until his mother and her grandfather came to get them. For however many hours later that was.

**-x-x-x-**

**Me: So already, there is a huge change in the story. I reread the whole thing and cringed the entire way through. I finally decided that it needed a HUGE facelift. Hope this is a bit more satisfying.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Lucky Penny (Revised)**

**Summary: Playing a game of poker with Fate and Destiny can be a dangerous task, especially when they control the hands. Two souls, thrown into a world of twists and turns, take their chance in this game against the gods. With so many out to kill the young and talented duo, childhood friends Kagome and Kurama must fight their way through the trials in hopes of making it out alive.**

**Anime/Manga: InuYasha/Yu Yu Hakusho**

**Rated: M for Mature Content**

**Pairing: Kagome/Kurama**

**Disclaimer: Do you really have to ask? No, I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or InuYasha.**

**A/N: I will not be placing the Prophecy at the start of every chapter. It's at the start of chapter one and will be mentioned in later chapters in the future.**

**-x-x-x-**

**Chapter Two**

**-x-x-x-**

It was nearly two in the morning when Shiori came searching out her son and her childhood friend's daughter. Finding both in the upright position in a chair, she smiled at the sleeping duo. Kagome's head rested against her sons' shoulder; a magazine had seemingly slid off their laps as sleep had mercilessly claimed the two adolescents.

She was thankful that her son had entertained the girl; she'd been worried he would shut her out the way he did herself. "Shuichi, Kagome, wake up little ones." She spoke softly so not to frighten either of them. Her son lifted his eyes to her, and the gave Kagome a gentle shake before standing and picking up the magazine. He placed it down on the table while Kagome tried to wake up. The girl was clearly exhausted. Even as she looked up at her and then her son, she wasn't completely awake. Shiori took pity on the girl as she picked her up in one arm before holding a hand to her son. Shuichi took it without question. As they made their way from the room and down the hall, Kagome took the moment to wake up as her eyes took in the lights and the doctors walking around them.

"Are we going to mama?"

"Yes, we are, you get to meet your brother for the first time too."

"The baby?" She asked excitedly, "it's out?"

She laughed, "yes, the baby is out, and it's healthy and beautiful." She came to stop at a door, her son pushing it open for her as she entered and smiled at Rai. "You look so tired,"

"I feel like the walking dead," she joked, though the pale color of her cheeks made the joke a bit more believable. She held out her hand as Shiori placed Kagome down. Her daughter ran over to her and she smiled down at the little girl. Her father lifted her up on the bed beside her and she watched Kagome as she looked the baby in her arms over.

"It looks weird."

"You looked just like he did when you were born,"

"No, Kagome was cute."

She laughed, "but Souta is cute too."

Kagome frowned, lifting a finger, she pressed it to the baby's nose and watched as it squirmed in her mother's arms. His lips parting as his eyes cracked a bit to see what had just touched him. He wiggled a bit more before he closed his eyes and fell back to sleep. "Souta?"

"That's his name,"

"…my brother?" She pointed again at the baby. Not waiting for an answer, she smiled, "he's funny looking, but I love him."

"Mama has to stay overnight at the hospital and grandpa is staying too."

"And Kagome?"

"No," she smiled, "Shiori is going to take you home with her for the rest of the night. That way you and Shuichi can get some sleep. You both have been so well-behaved and I'm sure you are both really tired."

Kagome couldn't argue with being tired, but she wanted to stay with her mother. "No!" She cried out, her eyes already starting to water.

"Shh," Rai smiled and placed a hand on her daughters' cheek, "there is nothing to cry about, Kagome. Shuichi will be with you until Mama comes to get you."

Shuichi would be with her. That's right. She glanced back at the boy who was curiously watching the interaction. She liked him. She knew she liked him. He was nice, and he showed her all the pictures in the book. He's smart, and he was only a little bit older than she was. She didn't have any friends her age because her home was way high off the ground. No one could get to her. She laid down on the bed and draped her legs over the bed as she climbed down and ran over to Shuichi's free hand. Taking it, she turned around and looked at her mom, "sleep mama!"

Rai laughed at the look on Shuichi's face. The boy was staring at his hand in Kagome's, as if he wasn't sure what to do with it. "I will, you be good for Shiori and Shuichi."

Shiori guided the two from the hospital and to her car. As she brought them home, she wasn't the least bit surprised to find Kagome drifting off to sleep for a second time that night.

**-x-x-x-**

Overnight turned into a day, a day turned into two, then three... Shiori watched as Kagome chased Shuichi around her front yard from the kitchen window. There had been some health problems with Souta, and Rai had to stay a bit longer. Not that Shiori minded keeping Kagome longer.

"_Haha~"_

The sound was so unfamiliar, she kept having to look up from the dishes she was washing. "Shuichi," her eyes softened on her son as he caught Kagome in his arms, a smile displayed largely across his face as he laughed. The two had gotten along well enough, and she couldn't be happier with the results of having the younger girl around.

"_Again!"_

Shiori watched her son do a cartwheel and flip. Where he had learned was beyond her, but then, he was always doing his own thing. She didn't see this side of him often, even at school his teacher said that he was something of a recluse. Should she be worried? He was ahead of his age group, his first-grade teacher mentioned it to her all the time. She watched him jump out of the way of Kagome's hands as she tried to catch him. He was agile, more balanced than any six-year-old she'd ever seen. No, she was sure it was only her son. He was different, special. Sure, every mother thinks their child is _special_, but hers truly was. A ringing from behind her had her turning away from the kids. She dried her hands and made her way to answer the phone.

**-x-x-x-**

Kagome laughed as Shuichi jumped out of her reach, landing gently on his feet as he did. She lunged forward again, but he backflipped away. Getting back to her feet, she ran after him again and he jumped over her, his hands on her shoulder as he vaulted weightlessly over her head. "No, no! Shui-Chan, show me too?"

"I don't think so, Kagome. You might get hurt."

She frowned, "you can do it. Me too, I can."

He shook his head, "no, I don't want you to get hurt."

"Kagome~" Shiori called from the front door. The five-year-old ran out from the towering figure of her son, "Kagome, your mom and brother have been released from the hospital. She's going home today." She smiled as Kagome's eyes brightened in her excitement. She jumped around and stomped her feet over and over.

"Yeah! Mama! Mama!" She yelled out, "I can see Mama!"

Yes, Kagome had certainly missed her mother. She looked excitedly back at Shuichi who seemed to have withdrawn from her energy. The familiar look of detachment finding refuge in his eyes as he watched her. She ran over to him and took his hand in hers, taking him by surprise. "Can Kagome come play with Shui-Chan again?" She asked as she looked at Shiori from next to Shuichi.

"Of course, I think he'd like that. I'll bring Shuichi to visit you too." She pointed inside, "you two can continue to play, I'm going to go get your bag packed before I take you home to your mom."

Kagome watched Shiori leave before she let go of Shuichi's hand and spun on her heels. She ran around the front yard before tumbling forward into a roll.

Shuichi watched her with a frown, his eyes following her as she stood up and brushed herself off before running and doing the same thing again. Throwing herself forward into a roll. "...what are you doing?"

"I'm doing what Shui-Chan does!" She looked at her knee from where she now sat on the ground, both legs outstretched before her. The scuff mark on her knee was covered in grass stains from sliding against the ground. It was an uncomfortable feeling, but it didn't hurt too much.

"Flips?" His eyes widened, "no, Kagome. I'll teach you when you are a little older."

"...I'm older now."

"No... when you are my age, I'll teach you."

"Shui-Chan's age?" She looked thoughtfully for a moment. Finally, she nodded, "I'll wait!"

"Come on, Shuichi, Kagome!"

Shuichi helped Kagome stand back up before walking together to his mother where they climbed into the car and made their way to the Sunset Shrine. He would have to say goodbye to Kagome soon, and he wasn't sure how long it would be until he saw the small girl again. His mother said that they would come visit, he'd have to wait and see then.

**-x-x-x-**

**Me: Here is chapter three of the newly refurbished Lucky Penny. I hope you all enjoy this more in-depth and hopefully more realistic and in character version of the story.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Lucky Penny (Revised)**

**Summary: Playing a game of poker with Fate and Destiny can be a dangerous task, especially when they control the hands. Two souls, thrown into a world of twists and turns, take their chance in this game against the gods. With so many out to kill the young and talented duo, childhood friends Kagome and Kurama must fight their way through the trials in hopes of making it out alive.**

**Anime/Manga: InuYasha/Yu Yu Hakusho**

**Rated: M for Mature Content**

**Pairing: Kagome/Kurama**

**Disclaimer: Do you have to ask? No, I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or InuYasha.**

**A/N: I will not be placing the Prophecy at the start of every chapter. It's at the start of chapter one and will be mentioned in later chapters.**

**-x-x-x-**

**Chapter Three**

**-x-x-x-**

In a year, there was much that could happen, in five years, even more than that. The two had become close friends and had spent many days in the company of one another. Attending the same elementary school, with Shuichi always one year ahead of Kagome. Well known around their school as the Faultless Duo. Teachers loved them; students aimed to be like them. At ten and eleven, they were considered prodigies, and while, for Shuichi, that may have been true. With Kagome, she had to push herself and study twice as hard to keep up with her prodigal best friend.

True to his word, Shuichi had started teaching Kagome the basics of gymnastics when she turned six. How she'd remembered was beyond him. However, on June sixth, she'd grabbed him by the hand and dragged him outside. Pointing at the ground and demanding that he help her learn how to cartwheel. Cartwheels turned to forward flips. Forward flips transitioned into backflips. It took a good number of months and practicing out of their mothers' line of sight. Rai being the overprotective mother that she was. When she could do such flips with ease, he told her to figure the rest out on her own.

When she turned seven, they became study partners in the most basic of subjects. Though, their studying usually consisted of Shuichi teaching Kagome and Kagome becoming restless and trying to sneak off to find something to distract herself better. When they weren't in class or doing schoolwork, they were playing at one or the others house.

On Kagome's eighth birthday, she joined dance. She took up ballet when Shuichi became more involved in the biology club at their school—devoting countless hours to pirouettes and toe pointe.

When she turned nine, she entered her first dance competition, where she met her first rival. She took home second place and found that her rival in dance had eyes on her best friend. Not that it bothered Kagome, at first. She was fine until the girl started hanging off Shuichi. Though Shuichi politely shrugged her off every time, she was quite persistent.

On Kagome's tenth birthday, Shuichi learned that Kagome had a unique heritage. She was a Miko, and her family was one of the last remaining bloodlines of Miko. However, it skipped generations from what he learned. Rai didn't have such abilities, but her grandmother did. He learned about this when she'd singed him accidentally, sending the girl into a state of panic. On the day he learned of her Miko abilities, she learned of _his_ demon soul.

**~FLASHBACK~**

"_Shuichi! Oh, Kami, I'm so sorry!" She stepped back from her friend as she looked down at her hands, the fading pink glow that surrounded her hands; she'd never seen it before. Her blue eyes trailed up to meet her friends curious green, and she looked at the singed mark on his hand. She wanted to move forward and check on him, but what if she hurt him again!? She couldn't do that, no, no way!_

"_Kagome, it's fine. I didn't realize you were a Miko..."_

_She frowned, 'a Miko?'_ _Not that she didn't know what one was! She did. She just wasn't sure how he'd figured that she was one. "Are you sure? How can you tell?"_

_He looked at her in contemplation, his eyes keeping her in check for a good moment before he sighed and looked away. "I know because Miko energy is dangerous to demon energy."_

"_Demon energy?" She frowned, "what do you mean? What does that have to do with why I hurt you?"_

"_Think about it," he sat down against the sheetrock of the small building atop the roof of their school. Their lunches lay on the ground, discarded. "Why would your Miko energy react towards me?"_

"_...what?" She didn't piece it together, her eyes darting around as she thought about what he was saying. She didn't get it. "You can't be a demon; you don't look anything like one."_

"_What do you think a demon looks like?" He laughed._

"_You know, scary and gross."_

_He shook his head, placing his hand behind his neck, he ran it through his red shoulder-length hair and pulled out a beautiful red rose that he held out for her._

_Her eyes were wide in surprise. This was new. Like, she'd never thought much about his ability to do almost anything he put his mind to. She figured he was just a talented kid, that things just came easily for him. "Shuichi is a Demon" never crossed her mind._

"_Kagome?"_

_She reached out her hand and took the rose cautiously; her fingers gently ran across the velvety red petals before her eyes returned to his. "You're a demon..."_

"_Well, to be technical, I'm still human, but I have a Demon Soul, and Demon energy as a result."_

"_Right," she eyed him before sighing, "so...your mom?"_

"_Is just a normal human. She doesn't know about this."_

"_Shuichi, maybe you could explain to me better, how you know about your demon soul?"_

**~End Flashback~**

Thus, he'd spent the rest of the day explaining to her the past of Youko Kurama, the soul that inhabited his body and had been a big part of his agility and reflexes throughout their earlier childhood development. His graceful flips and spins, her inability to catch him, even now as they were older. His quick thinking, he'd mentioned a voice that he'd on more than one occasion spoken with. This voice was raising him with the knowledge of his demon past. It had hastened his learning, and he found himself quickly picking up what normal children couldn't.

Yes, Kagome had learned a lot that day.

She had walked home in the opposite direction of Shuichi. Getting home, the first words she said to her mother had been: _"Mom! I need to learn how to control my Miko abilities!"_ This had spurred a whole slew of questions from her mother, none of which she mentioned Shuichi. Simply explaining that her hands kept glowing pink at school, and it was getting her weird looks now. Since her mother couldn't help her, she had decided that _now_ was a good time for Kagome to meet her grandmother.

**-x-x-x-**

**(Day After the Reveal)**

Kagome walked up the towering steps from beside her mother. "How long are we going to be here? I didn't get a chance to tell Shuichi that we were leaving."

Rai smiled, "only long enough for mom to teach you enough that you can control your abilities. I'm sure Shuichi will survive a week or two without you."

Kagome wasn't so much worried about that, as she was the thought of him thinking that he'd scared her off. "A week or two..."

Nudging her daughter forward, Rai rolled her eyes at her hesitance to leave her friend. "You know, I always knew that you and Shuichi would be the best of friends."

"You did?"

"Oh yes," she grinned, "when you climbed off the gurney and took his hand in yours, you were ready to go home with him. You didn't want to go home with Shiori; you wanted to go home with Shuichi."

Kagome looked down at her shoes as she blushed, her cheeks warm from her embarrassment. "You are exaggerating."

"I'm not!" Rai took her daughter by the hand as they continued up the winding steps, "when you came home after I'd been at the hospital for three days with your brother, and Shuichi had to leave after he and his mother dropped you off...I don't think you've ever cried so much then when you watched their car leave."

"I don't believe you,"

"You don't have to; I know the truth." She smiled, "I know how much you care for Shuichi, and I'm glad. Shiori was worried for the longest time that he'd never open up to anyone. You, my little ball of energy, do him good. As much as you need him, he needs you."

Kagome shook her head and continued in silence beside her mother. As they saw the top come into sight, she felt herself becoming nervous as she wondered what kind of woman her grandmother was. _'Well, I'll get my answer soon enough...'_ she stepped onto the flat of the ground and walked forward closer towards the large _house_, more like a traditional shrine. "So, grandma is rich?"

"Grandma is a recluse." Rai muttered, "she was a martial artist, renowned for her technique. She told me that, before I was even a twinkle in her eyes, she'd been an Instructor. She taught alongside my father."

"Grandpa?"

"No, Grandpa is your dad's father. Mine..." Rai smiled and paused, "I never met him. I often wondered what he was like…but asking mom was like taking a knife to her heart repeatedly. I could see it in her eyes. The hurt she felt thinking about him. I wondered if he even knew about me; even still, if he's alive now, would he want to know me?" She shook her head and sighed, "I guess it doesn't matter. I have mom, and she's always been a handful."

"...a... handful?"

"Oh, trust me, you'll see." She laughed as she pulled her heart back up above the somber waves of emotion. Rai guided Kagome across the long stretch of ground between the stairs and the entrance to the house. "Mom~?!" She called out loudly.

Kagome glanced around and took in all that she could from where she and her mother were standing. The house looked normal enough to her for the most part, but further past the house, she felt something off about the forest in the distance. A tremor ran along her spine, and she moved into her mother's arms.

"Raika, it's been a while."

'_Raika?'_ Kagome looked up at her mother as she bowed respectfully. Her eyes turned to a door as it slid open to reveal a little old lady with dull pinkish-gray hair. Kagome was stunned; her eyes couldn't process the height of the little old lady. She was taller than the older woman, her _grandmother_.

"I'm sorry, mom, it has been a few years."

"A few?" The old lady cackled, "the last time I saw you, you were twenty, single and without children. I'd say quite a bit of time has passed. Certainly, more than a few years."

"At least ten..." Kagome said.

"_Not helping," _Rai muttered to her daughter. "Listen, mom...I came here because of Kagome."

The old woman raised a brow, "Oh? Kagome. That must be your daughter." She eyed Kagome, and after a moment, she smirked. "I see, I guess you wouldn't know how to train her in controlling her spiritual energy, would you."

**-x-x-x-**

How could meeting your grandmother be so awkward? It wasn't even uncomfortable for Kagome, as much as it was awkward to be around both her mother and grandmother, who _made_ things weird. Looking around at the simple décor, there wasn't anything overly flashy in the home. It was all traditional and minimal. Exceptionally clean. More than that, it was bare and lonely. "Grandma, you've been living here alone all this time?" Asking that, it was out of her mouth before she could even consider the fact that it sounded inconsiderate. She cringed at her thoughtlessness. "Wait, I'm sorry. It's not my business."

Her grandmother laughed a bit, "don't apologize because you're curious. To answer your question, I've lived here since before your mother was born. The peace is home; I'm grateful for it."

Kagome nodded while her mother looked away. The answer seemed to upset her mom, but she wasn't sure what about it bothered her.

"How long will it take if you don't mind my asking?"

"In a hurry to leave, Raika?"

"It's not that. Souta is still at home, and dad is taking care of him alone."

"Ah, yes. Why not leave Kagome with me, and you can come to pick her up on the first of the next month."

Doing the math in her head, Kagome realized that she would be there for the next three weeks. _'Oh, Shuichi! He'll think I left him.'_ She bowed her head, _'if I work hard, maybe I can leave sooner.'_

"Very well, Kagome, I will be back on the start of May, please behave yourself and do your best. I need to call you school and let them know you'll be gone for some time."

"What about my schoolwork?"

"I'll keep a folder, but you'll have to catch up on it before you return to class."

Kagome nodded, "yes, ma'am."

She stood next to her grandmother as her mom turned and left the shrine. It was strange, but her mother was quick to leave. Whatever was between her mom and her grandmother, it must have been enough to get her mother to take off without talking. She just wanted to getaway. _'But why?'_

**-x-x-x-**

**Me: Here is chapter three. I am derailing from the original story, but I promise the plot will still be the same.**


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